258 KEMINISCEXCES OF A SPORTSMAN". 



docile ; and what was remarkable, was very fond of 

 drinking water, and indeed showed signs of much 

 distress when it was not at hand, with which it was 

 apprehended was occasioned by fever, as it died of in- 

 flammation of the chest. There is a quickness and 

 general liveliness of manner in both the male and 

 female merlin, very different from the grave deport- 

 ment of the hawk tribe generally. All their move- 

 ments bespeak volatility and hurried purpose ; on the 

 wing both are rapid in the extreme. In external 

 markings the male is distinguished, according to Mr. 

 Macgillivray, by having the upper parts tinged with 

 dark bluish grey, each feather having a black central 

 line ; the lower parts of the body are of a light reddish 

 yellow, with oblong dark-brown spots. The upper part 

 of the head is of a brownish-grey, the lower part of a 

 greyish- white. The bill is of a pale blue at the ball, 

 bluish-black at the end ; in figure it is short and strong, 

 its upper mandibles being sharply curved at the base ; 

 the tomia sharp anteriorly, with a slight central festoon, 

 having the angular process characteristic of the genus 

 very distinct. 



The lower mandible has a truncated tip and semi- 

 circular notch directly behind it. In length the merlin 

 ranges from ten to twelve inches ; its weight about four 

 ounces. The female merlin differs from the male in 

 being somewhat larger, and somewhat differently marked 

 and coloured. Length twelve and a half inches ; extent 

 of wings, twenty-eight inches. In both male and female 

 the legs, which are slender, are feathered before more 

 than a third of the length, and are compressed behind 

 and covered with scales. 



The flight of the merlin, we are told by the accurate 



